Japan stocks slump; Hong Kong, Australia rise

V.Phani Kumar

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Japanese stocks tumbled Friday to snap a five-week winning streak as exporters skidded on the yen’s strength, while shares in Australia and Hong Kong climbed following gains on Wall Street.

Nissan Motor Co. and Advantest Corp. lost ground in Tokyo after posting their quarterly results, while shares of Chinese railway construction firms traded in Hong Kong gave back some of the gains recorded Thursday.

Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average
NIK, -0.90%
slumped 3% to end the week with a 3.2% loss tally, and China’s Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP, +0.29%
lost 0.5%. Both benchmarks had also declined in the previous two sessions.

Tokyo Stock Exchange

A stronger yen batters Japanese exporters, weighing on the Tokyo market.

“The global share-market rally is struggling for momentum, as lingering concerns about Chinese growth and mixed corporate earnings in Europe and the U.S. prompted global investors to take profits and wind back risk trades,” said Perpetual head of investment market research Matthew Sherwood.

The two companies’ Shanghai-listed shares, which had also advanced Thursday, overcame early losses to finish the day up 0.4% and 1.1%, respectively.

“We believe that markets have not fully priced in Wednesday’s statement by the Chinese State Council, introducing stimulus measures. ... The measures are likely to be followed by further steps ensuring a modest rebound of economic momentum” in the second half of 2013, said Crédit Agricole senior economist Dariusz Kowalczyk.

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